Kiipu

That Japanese had examples of all the various rifles used by other countries during the Meiji era. Sometimes just a solitary example and in other cases thousands of them. For example, the Enfield bayonets were still in use by the army as late as 1884. In answer to your question about socket bayonet usage by the Japanese, I have not really looked into the matter. In regards to the markings, one character is 大 which means large. As for the other marking(s), maybe @BANGBANGSAN or @SteveM can help?

良重 = Yoshishige. 昭和十九年= 1944. He is listed in Part 2 of the naval swords monograph authored by @mecox. Japanese NAVAL SWORDS Swordsmiths & Workshops Part 2

Ed, listen to John & Rob. 天皇 = Tennō = emperor. 昭和十七年 = 1942. @Shamsy

Morita san, is the romanji ローマ字 below incorrect? Ōno Tadashi 大野･正. Gendai tōkō･kinkō･shokkata sōran 現代刀工･金工･職方総覧. [A General Survey of Modern Swordsmiths, Metalworkers, and Artisans]. Seiun shoin 青雲書院, 1977. 247 pages.

Thanks Joe! I note a masukotto doll in the collection as well, nice. I actually have a little story about those dolls I mentioned over at WRF. Just ran across another picture of one mounted on the dashboard of an airplane of all places. Masukotto dolls

Ran across this over at @Grey Doffin website today. Grey has posted several pictures which are just stunning. I wonder if @Spartancrest knows about this book? B951. Late Edo and Meiji Period Sword Guards and Fittings Late Edo and Meiji Period Sword Guards and Fittings: Collection of Kiyomizu San’nenzaka Museum 幕末・明治の鐔・刀装金工〜清水三年坂美術館コレクション [Bakumatsu Meiji no tsuba tōsō kinkō: Kiyomizu san'nenzaka bijutsukan korekushon]. Supervised by Murata Satoru 村田･理如. Maria shobō マリア書房, 2008. Japanese & English text, 159 pages.

Cross-Reference Yokosuka Naval Arsenal Worker's Badges @Utopianarian, can I repost the picture of your badge at the thread above?

The location was Okinawa and the picture was taken on 1945-04-06. The caption for the photograph is below. The caption & location is courtesy of "hittavainen" over at GBF. http://www2.archives.pref.okinawa.jp/opa/SearchPicsDetail2.aspx?pid=53806

I read about it in a Russian article that I mentioned in the bibliography. Bibliography of Japanese Modern Edged Weapons, 1868-1945 A Google translation comes up with the following. “With a naked sword, rainwater or river water accumulated at the bottom of the scabbard during the crossing, and this led to corrosion of the blade, which worried the military. That is why the venerable Kunitaro set out to invent something that would prevent this”6. Iida's patented device gave officer weapons (including naval designs) a level of blade protection against harsh environments that conventional clevis mechanisms found on military swords could not provide. These days, rare swords with the Iida breech mechanism are sought after by collectors. After the end of World War II, Iida Kunitaro was actively involved in the movement to revive the art of the Japanese sword. His third son Iida Kazuo, born in 1934, became one of the leading sword researchers and experts. Iida Kunitaro died in a hospital on September 17, 1979 (Showa 54) in Chiba Prefecture. @wiktor69 Is this Google translation more or less correct?

The Iida latch came about during the Sino-Japanese War that started in 1937. Water was getting into the sword scabbards when crossing rivers & such and causing rust damage. Japanese troops were complaining and Iida san came out with this latch to address the problem.

Not a problem, here you go. Leatherneck  1955-08: Vol 38 Iss 8

Memories of childhood! Something different..., Post #1176

That would be the thread below which shows a star stamped Type 100, dated August 1944. sanemichi??

A reproduction as already stated. 大仁二郎 = Ōhito Jirō or Dainin Jirō.

豊佐 Toyosuke's identity is currently unknown. Almost all of his blades are in postwar souvenir fittings that were sold via the PX. One showed up in Japan in modern iai fittings, but it is unknown if it started out as a souvenir sword or not. Some have black painted numbers on them, the highest is 68, which you posted pictures of back in 2016. Помогите разобраться, Post #6 現代刀・豊佐作

Courtesy of Edokko over at GBF. This one is in Type 98 fittings. 在銘　武田音次

It seems none of Takeda's blades are dated and a variety of signatures were used. His first name can be pronounced as Otoji, Ototsugu, Naritsugu, or Takatsugu. One sword is in Type 98 mounts and another one in civilian mounts. 武田音次 武田音次作 武田音次之作

掲載日 keisai-bi　［昭和１７年］８月２５日 会場 kaijō [venue] 　銀･松 イベント名 ibento-mei [event name]　日本刀展覧会 主催 shusai [organizer]　日本刀剣新 後援・協賛 kōen・kyōsan [support/sponsorship]　No entry. Source: 百貨店の国策展覧会をめぐって by 難波 功士 [cut and past the title and the article can be found in PDF format].

Some more eyecandy for Piers. However, the lack of an overall picture of the matchlock is disappointing. This one got registered in 1872. Japanese Matchlock, pictures added- please help with identification and translation

That was my take on it as well, but I deleted what I wrote. Jacky, if you are looking for a Japanese sword, then this is not it.

This is the most recent post about this swordsmith I could find. I just ran across another one and below is the link. Has anything been learned about him since? 武田音次之作 Japanese sword translation

OK, so every one was correct after all, just an old versus new thing. 石井要次郞源恆祥 = 石井要次郎源恒祥

天草王 Maybe a Chinese name? @BANGBANGSAN

@Dave R Thanks for the tip as to the possible origins of the Japanese medical sword. @Bruce Pennington A black & white photograph of the sword above can be seen on page 93 of Dawson's 2007 book, Sword of Imperial Japan, 1868-1945.

Dan, maybe a dark brown to go along with the belt? If my memory is correct, @IJASWORDS had a sword that had a leather handle covering?